The discovery of a hundred kilograms of heroin in the luggage of a Turkish citizen means much more than a blow against the drug mafia. Apparently, it was not initially clear to Turkish customs who the arrested man was. Veysel Filiz had been lobbying for the Erdoğan regime in Europe for years and repeatedly appeared on AKP/MHP channels as a "foreign policy expert." In 2014, he was appointed by Turkish regime leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself as the press officer of the Turkish Embassy in Brussels.

Spy for the Turkish regime

His unofficial task was to collect information about opponents of the Erdoğan regime in Europe, especially about Kurds, and to report this information to Ankara. In 2017, the Belgian police discovered that Filiz was threatening opposition activists living in Europe from fake accounts. An investigation was opened against him and he was summoned to testify. This led to a political crisis between Ankara and Brussels. Filiz was declared an "undesirable person" in Belgium and he retreated to Turkey. Even after his return to Turkey, he did not interrupt his contacts to Europe and organized in particular the AKP/MHP-affiliated nationalist scene in Europe. Filiz also had close ties to the drug mafia. Apparently, he systematically smuggled heroin to Europe. On December 9, the Turkish agent was caught by chance at the Bulgarian border with a hundred kilograms of heroin worth five million euros. The case only came to light now, as every effort was made to conceal the event from the public. The Turkish authorities immediately imposed a secrecy order and instead of the widespread news of success in similar drug finds, there was iron silence from the Turkish customs authorities. Filiz was imprisoned. His son Fatih Filiz speaks of a "plot" against his father, saying he will soon be released. Whether he can hope for a similar amnesty as the mafia godfather, murderer and avowed fascist Alaattin Çakıcı remains to be seen.

Spokesman for the Islamist lobbying association EMISCO

In Europe, Filiz acted as spokesman for the European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion (EMISCO) and lobbied within this framework. His name last appeared on the association's poorly maintained website on March 29, 2020, when he lobbied for Ahmet Mete, a preacher convicted of anti-Semitic incitement and praising Hitler. In late October, the association's Facebook page advertised lectures by Filiz in which he castigated the "Islamophobia of the Macron government." The association called for a boycott of France in line with the AKP/MHP regime.

Swamp of intelligence, drug mafia and fascists

The Grey Wolves, and Turkish fascism in general, have a historical connection to organized crime. Since the 1970s, drug smuggling by the various Turkish regimes into Europe has been consistently well documented. In particular, the extralegal activities of fascists and agent networks are often financed by drug money.